This came up during one of the recent taiji classes.
My teacher likes to play music during taiji classes. Recently, he had to leave class early, bringing along with him his set of music. We students were thus left "musicless".
Someone commented that it feels weird practising taiji without music.
I think music helps to create a soothing environment for practising taiji. Yet we must not rely on the music to create the environment. After all, taiji is about cultivating the inner self. The environment we create for taiji is within ourselves. Music may help, but ultimately, it is we ourselves we have to find our own means to create that inner environment. With or without music.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Taiji and Music
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4 comments:
What type of music is suitable for Tai Chi exercises? Chinese classical music, Western classical music, chinese songs, jazz....
So I far I only know of ONE chinese classical music, which is familiar to everyone, for tai chi.
Are there more music out there?
I would like to hear from everyone..
I would say Chinese orchestra music and old Chinese tunes. My teacher uses 春江花月夜 a lot but there are other songs as well to choose from.
Are there specific type of music suitable for each tai chi style, for example, yang is slow and smooth, and chen is more vigorous. Different music will set the mood for these exercises. A catalog of these music is useful, we are bore by listening to the same tune every time. This topic on music will be an interesting article.
Actually, I am trying to say that when practising taiji, we should not be overly concerned about the music, whether we have music or not, whether what tune we play. The important thing is being able to achieve the inner peaceful environment, with or without music.
I can't really recommend different types of music for different styles, because I am someone who doesn't really care about the type of music.
For performances, though, you should try to find a piece of music suitable for the tempo that you want to achieve, the effect if you can pace your performance with the music, etc.
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